Waking Up: A Guide to Spirituality Without Religion in Atheists and Skeptics

Aug 29, 2014 Dan Meier rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorite-authors, philosophy, favorites, science

All I can say is WOW!

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Oct 22, 2018 Jeff Koeppen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science, 2018-read, audio, atheism-religion, non-fiction, self-help, psychology, author-harris-sam

I liked Waking Up for the most part, some parts had me riveted but there were also parts where I felt like fast-forwarding. In the book, Sam Harris provides an overview for the nonreligious how to be spiritual – or more specifically, how to be more aware of one’s consciousness and peacefulness by meditation. He states, “Spirituality remains the great hole in secularism, humanism, rationalism, atheism, and all the other defensive postures that reasonable men and women strike in the presence of un I liked Waking Up for the most part, some parts had me riveted but there were also parts where I felt like fast-forwarding. In the book, Sam Harris provides an overview for the nonreligious how to be spiritual – or more specifically, how to be more aware of one’s consciousness and peacefulness by meditation. He states, “Spirituality remains the great hole in secularism, humanism, rationalism, atheism, and all the other defensive postures that reasonable men and women strike in the presence of unreasonable faith.” Harris is a neuroscientist and has a knack for explaining how our brains work and how mental discipline can lead one to a happier life.

Harris attempts to wrestle the concept of spirituality away from where it as always resided, in the minds of believers of the supernatural. He argues that spiritually is a natural state based on experience and neurology and not anything supernatural or religious. He takes down the claims of near-death experiences, especially some of the recent high-profile cases which resulted in the subjects making millions on their New York Times bestseller-list book. Also fantastic was the conclusion of the book, in which Harris takes off the gloves in his criticism of religion. He contends, "We have failed, generation after generation, to abolish the delusions and animosities of our ignorant ancestors. The worst ideas continue to thrive and are still imparted in their purest form to children.”

Also interesting was the chapter about pharmacology. Harris talks about the therapeutic benefits of certain illegal drugs such as LSD and Ecstasy. I've never heard someone talk about such drugs in a positive, neurological context.

The parts of the book that lost me were where Harris talks about his mediation training under his Eastern spiritual leaders. The history of some of these gurus and their movements seemed to drag a bit and felt like unnecessary information.

I listened to his in audio and it was read by Sam himself. He has a pleasant but monotonous voice. There are parts I will go back and listen to. Overall, a good read. ...more

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Nov 07, 2014 Gofita rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: inspiring, skeptic-book-club, science, audiobook, re-read, kindle, self-help, 2015-read

Reread this for my skeptic book club. It was good to revisit. Still a fascinating read the second time around.

Interesting introduction to meditation and its benefits, especially from a secular point of view. He's studied and practiced various forms of meditation and kind of brings them together without all the dogma. He also talks about psychedelics and the good and bad and the in-between of using them in order to have a transcending experience.

Fascinating listen. It's one I'll be coming back to ...more

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Sep 28, 2014 Tamra rated it really liked it

Shelves: own-currently, spiritual, on-my-kindle

I think I need a little more time to digest this book before I can fully know how I feel about it. However, here's my immediate response:

I was hesitant to read this book, since Sam Harris is a hard-core atheist, and I generally stay away from that kind of thing. But he apparently leaves his faith-tearing-apart act in his other books (something he explicitly says in this book) and sticks to the topic of spirituality in Waking Up. Which is good, because no matter where I stand with respect to reli I think I need a little more time to digest this book before I can fully know how I feel about it. However, here's my immediate response:

I was hesitant to read this book, since Sam Harris is a hard-core atheist, and I generally stay away from that kind of thing. But he apparently leaves his faith-tearing-apart act in his other books (something he explicitly says in this book) and sticks to the topic of spirituality in Waking Up. Which is good, because no matter where I stand with respect to religion, I'm never going to want to read how religion is a sham.

I have read other reviews that have stated that Sam Harris offers nothing new in this book, but since it's the first book of its kind that I've read, it was nearly all new to me, and I loved it!

Parts I loved:
1 - His discussion about how certain religious-type experiences are universal across cultures. He doesn't dismiss spiritual experiences and says that it's a mistake that atheists make to just dismiss spirituality out of hand. That makes sense to me and makes me feel that atheism can be a safe place to hang out.
2 - I've had a spiritual insight that is outside my religious upbringing and since then have been searching for words to match the experience, since my traditional religious vocabulary hasn't been cutting it. I would read sections of Waking Up and feel nearly giddy that Sam Harris, and lots of other people, get it! The world of meditation has the language that I need to describe what I've experienced. I feel like I have found my place, my people. (Now I just need to start meditating, right?!)
3 - His discussion about consciousness. All of it. Again, old news or not, I've never read a discussion about this topic, and I was hooked. Good stuff.
4 - His break-down of meditation practices and approaches. As a worse-than-novice, I was appreciative of a clear overview of the field, since its one that I feel can be elusive and confusing. I also appreciated his admittance of some of the crazy that can come along with this search, even though he is clear that it doesn't HAVE to.

Parts I didn't love:
1a - His occasional out-of-hand dismissal of religion. I get that this sort of perspective makes sense to him, but I'm not seeking to be so dismissive of anyone's religion, ever.
1b - He was dismissive of Joseph Smith and Mormonism in particular. Good old Joe got several mentions, none of them good. Harris doesn't dwell on it, so it was easy to just let it go, but if you're Mormon and looking to read this book, you might not like hearing Joseph Smith called a con man.
2 - His long attack on a doctor guy who had a near death experience. It was clear to me that Harris and this guy have some sort of tit-for-tat thing going, and I wasn't happy that Harris spent so much of this book's real estate on making his next assault. Take it outside, people!
3 - Harris seems unaware that his take on spirituality, and his worldview in general, requires the same sort of leap of faith that religion does. He obviously feels like he's above religion, and while he may well be, I thought it amusing that his "I'm not asking you to take what I say in blind faith; experience it for yourself" statement is one that I've heard repeatedly in Mormonism! I have a hard time with atheists who don't see how hilariously similar this is. One must make some sort of judgment call, and whether or not one thinks things are "ridiculous" and "delusional" as opposed to "insightful" and "life-changing" is a matter of their personal experience.
- While Harris would say that his claims are empirical and therefore better, the better part of that statement is just a matter of opinion. Religious people claim their knowledge comes from a non-empirical, yet quite powerful, source that is clearly better than just what your senses and logic can get you. Again, no matter how I feel about religion, it seems to me that this is just a matter of opinion.

At any rate, the things I didn't like don't outweigh the things I did like. I am likely to use this book as a reference, or re-read it as I continue my exploration of life and spirituality. ...more

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Mar 10, 2021 Arya Tabaie rated it liked it

This is the second Sam Harris book I've read, and it was disappointing in the same way: it wasn't as profound as you would hope considering the subject matter and the author. Still inspiring and worthwhile though. ...more

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